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International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research ISSN: 2455-2070; Impact Factor: RJIF 5.22
www.socialresearchjournals.com
Volume 2; Issue 6; June 2016; Page No. 29-34
State of calories intake in Odisha and role of public policies
Dr. Rathi Kanta Kumbhar
Assistant Professor, P.G. Department of Economics, Sambalpur University, Jyotivihar, Burla, Sambalpur, Odisha, India
Abstract
The paper examines the trend and pattern of calories intake in Odisha. Data from different quinquennial rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) are analyzed and it finds – at the aggregate level there is a significant improvement in calories intake by the people of Odisha since early 1970s. The disaggregated analysis also shown a better picture of Odisha compared to all India in this regards as far as calorie intakes are concerned, the poor of Odisha are in a better position than the poor of all India. Reviews of different public policies shows- a number of positive reforms have been implemented during that time both by the centre and by the state governments to improve the food and nutritional securities in the state, which might have been the reason of such improvement.
Keywords: Calorie intakes, Public Provisioning, Odisha
Introduction
Food is the basic need for living being. But “unlike plants, which can manufacture the foods they need from simple chemicals derived from the soil, from water and from the carbon dioxide in the air, higher organisms, including man; do not possess this capacity to manufacture food” (NSSO, 2014)
[8, 9]. Hence human being has to depend on plants or other
animals for obtaining the food that they need. However men have a very wide range of foods to fulfill their dietary requirements and the quantum of those foods are measures in different units. But to know to what extent a person has fulfilled his/her dietary requirements, it is required to know the range of food in a single unit of measurement and one of the measures is the calorie or Calorie [1]. Hence calories intake is a necessary parameter to adjudge the survival condition of human being. It is also argued in the literature that – nutritionally sound person has better contribution to economic growth (Dasgupta, 1993). Therefore, not only from survival point of view but from economic growth and social justice point of views adequate calories intakes of individuals are desirable in any society (Rawls, 1971; Dasgupta, 1993; Dreze
& Sen, 1989) [10].
Odisha is one of the Indian states where the calorie deprivation has been a perennial problem and also a major concern, which might be due to specific economic and social structure of the state (Kumbhar, 2013) [6]. But over time by virtue of State’s economic and social policies, though at the aggregate level incidence of such problems are ameliorated to an extent, at the disaggregated level it still persist. This paper is an attempt to examine the state of calorie intakes in Odisha.
Data for the paper has been collected from the large scale sample survey (i.e. quinquennial rounds) conducted by the
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). NSSO collects data on household’s consumption expenditure and from that data the Nutritional intakes reports are prepared. The reports provide information on intakes of calorie, protein and fat across at the national and state level. It also provides similar information for different monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) class. The present paper confined to calorie intakes at the aggregated and disaggregated level.
The collected data have been analysed at two stages. First, at the aggregate level the trend of calorie intakes in Odisha vis-à- vis all India are presented. At the second stage the disaggregated analysis was done to examine the variability in calorie intakes across different MPCE classes and then to find out whether the dispersion has decreased, increased or remained constant. Then the findings are explained through the state’s policies. Therefore, simple tabulation, percentages, dispersion and descriptive analysis are the tools of analysis for the paper. The remaining of the paper has three sections.
Section I analysed the calories intake data at the aggregated and disaggregated level, section II review the state’s food and nutritional security policies and section III conclude the paper.
Section I
Calorie intakes in Odisha and India: Trend Analysis Calorie intake is an important indicator in assessing the nutritional status of an individual. It also depicts the picture of malnutrition [2]. Table 1 and 2 assesses the trend of calorie intake at the aggregated level for Odisha and her position at all India level from 1972-73 to 2011-12. The table reveals that-
In rural sector, not only the level of the calories intake per consumer unit (PCU) [3] remained lower in Odisha during
1 Quantitative food requirements are usually set in terms of energy. The unit of measuring energy is kilocalorie (Kcal) which is the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one kg of water by 1oC from 14.5oC to 15.5oC. This is also called 1 Calorie and equals 1000 calories – the calorie being the heat required to raise 1gm of water through the same temperature.
2 Malnutrition could be caused either by under consumption or by over consumption of any essential nutrient. The under consumption of essential nutrient could be considered as hunger. There are four types of malnutrition, such as over nutrition, secondary malnutrition, dietary deficiency or micro nutrient malnutrition and protein-calorie malnutrition. Over nutrition occurred out of over consumption,
which is mainly the problem of high-income countries or high-income group.
Whereas, under nutrition occur mainly out of under consumption of calorie, protein and micronutrient. However, over nutrition is not a bigger problem for the developing countries rather, the most common types of malnutrition faced by the developing countries like India and especially by developing state like Odisha is under nutrition, which arises out of inadequate consumption of specified diet.
3 Consumer unit is the rate of equivalence of a normal person determined on the basis of age-sex compositions of a person. From the 26th round, NSSO has been using a level of 2700 kcal per consumer unit per diem as a standard.
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1972-73, compared too many other Indian states and all India, but the calories intake of the people of Odisha has also remained much lower than the required level of 2700 Kcal. However, such situation had improved during 1993- 94, but marginally declined in 2004-05 and then shown an improvement and remained marginally higher than all India average in 2011-12. As far as rank [4] of the state in terms of calories intake is concerned there is improvement. Further in term Odisha calories intake as a percentage of all India- there is a steady improvements
from 87 percentages at 1972-73 to 101 percentages in 2011-12.
In urban Odisha, the case is different where the level of PCU intake of calorie has been higher in Odisha compare to all India throughout the period of analysis. Yet the calories intake by the people of Odisha has remained much lower than the required level of 2700 Kcal during 1972-73 to 2011-12. In terms of rank Odisha’s relative position remained at 6 during 2011-12.
Table 1: Calorie intake by the people of Odisha and her position compared to major Indian states in rural and urban sector, 1973-74 to 2011-12
Rural Urban
State 1972-73 1983 1993-94 2004-05 2011-12 1972-73 1983 1993-94 2004-05 2011-12 Odisha 2494 2624 2740 2512 2622 2845 2735 2754 2596 2561
Rank 13 12 7 11 6 6 4 3 4 6 India 87.3 94.4 102.1 98.90 101.27 108.0 106.3 108.3 104.89 101.99 Notes: Odisha’s figures have been expressed in K. Calories. India’s figures express what percentage of India that Odisha is consuming. For 2004-05 and 2011-12 rank is calculated from 15 states. For other periods, rank is calculated from 17 states.
Source: Various NSSO reports
Overall, while in rural Odisha there is steady increase in calorie consumption and not only catch up the rural India’s figure by 1990s but by 2011-12 the rural Odisha figure is marginally higher than that of rural India, whereas the calorie consumption in urban Odisha has always remained higher compared to urban India. But since only 17 percent of the population resides in urban Odisha, the better performance in urban areas will not improve the overall situation of the state unless much improvement is brought in rural Odisha.
Table 2 (A & B) provides the changes in average per capita intake of calorie per day over different NSS rounds for the major Indian states, which reveals that though there is steady increase in the calories intakes of the people of Odisha yet there are some Indian states especially, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan always remained at higher level than Odisha in rural area. In the case of urban area also these states remained ahead of Odisha but in 1993-94 and 2009-10 Odisha’ per capita calorie intakes was highest among the Indian states.
Table 2(A): Changes in average per capita intake of calorie per day over NSS rounds across major States in Rural Area in India
States name 1972-73 1983 1993-94 1999-2000 2004-2005 2009-2010 2011-12 Andhra Pradesh 2103 2204 2052 2021 1995 2047 2186
Assam 2074 2056 1983 1915 2067 1974 2010 Bihar 2225 2189 2115 2121 2049 1931 2057 Chhattisgarh - - - - 1942 1926 2037
Gujarat 2142 2113 1994 1986 1923 1982 1915 Haryana 3215 2554 2491 2455 2226 2180 2254 Jharkhand - - - - 1961 1900 2042 Karnataka 2202 2260 2073 2028 1845 1903 2003
Kerala 1559 1884 1965 1982 2014 1964 1975 Madhya Pradesh 2423 2323 2164 2062 1929 1939 2110 Maharashtra 1895 2144 1939 2012 1933 2051 2103 Orissa 1995 2103 2199 2119 2023 2126 2116 Punjab 3493 2677 2418 2381 2240 2223 2328 Rajasthan 2730 2433 2470 2425 2180 2191 2263 Tamil Nadu 1955 1861 1884 1826 1842 1925 1926 Uttar Pradesh 2575 2399 2307 2327 2200 2064 2436 Uttarakhand - - - - 2160 2179 2112 West Bengal 1921 2027 2211 2095 2070 1927 2092
all-India 2266 2221 2153 2149 2047 2020 2099 Source: Various NSSO reports
4 Rank has been calculated from 15 major Indian states.
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Table 2 (B): Changes in average per capita intake of calorie per day over NSS rounds across major States in Urban Area in India States name 1972-73 1983 1993-94 1999-2000 2004-2005 2009-2010 2011-12 Andhra Pradesh 2143 2009 1992 2052 2000 1975 2150
Assam 2135 2043 2108 2174 2143 2003 2038 Bihar 2167 2131 2188 2171 2190 2013 2080 Chhattisgarh - - - 2087 1949 2072
Gujarat 2172 2000 2027 2058 1991 1983 2070 Haryana 2404 2242 2140 2172 2033 1940 2165 Jharkhand - - - - 2458 2046 2101 Karnataka 1925 2124 2026 2046 1944 1987 2007
Kerala 1723 2049 1966 1995 1996 1941 2030 Madhya Pradesh 2229 2137 2082 2132 1954 1854 2029 Maharashtra 1971 2028 1989 2039 1847 1901 2039 Orissa 2276 2219 2261 2298 2139 2096 2094 Punjab 2783 2100 2089 2197 2150 2062 2172 Rajasthan 2357 2255 2184 2335 2116 2014 2151 Tamil Nadu 1841 2140 1922 2030 1935 1963 1975 Uttar Pradesh 2161 2043 2114 2131 2124 1923 2379 Uttarakhand - - - 2205 1984 2004 West Bengal 2080 2048 2131 2134 2011 1851 2026
all-India 2107 2089 2071 2156 2020 1946 2058 Source: Various NSSO reports
Calorie intakes in Odisha: A Disaggregated Analysis Here we have examined the calorie intakes by the people Odisha by their per capita consumption expenditure groups.
Table 3 depicts- in 1983 while in rural Odisha the PCU calorie intake of the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure class (MPCE) is only 36 percentage of the calorie intake of an average person of state, the upper three MPCE classes consumes more than 150 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of state. Further the conditions of urban
poor are much worse- the PCU calorie intake of the bottom three MPCE classes are less than 50 percent, of which the lowest MPCE class’s calories intake is 31 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of Odisha, whereas the highest MPCE class consumes 143 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of the state. The standard deviation depicts that the variation in calorie intake remain high in rural area (1210) compared to urban area (911).
Table 3: Per Consumer Unit intake of Calorie per day by the fractile class of MPCE in 1983
Rural Urban MPCE in RS Calorie Percentage from all MPCE in RS Calorie Percentage from all
0--30 972 36.36 0--30 832 31.13 30-40 1325 49.57 30-40 1319 49.35 40-50 1698 63.52 40-50 1285 48.07 50-60 1897 70.97 50-60 1751 65.51 60-70 2144 80.21 60-70 1937 72.47 70-85 2399 89.75 70-85 2210 82.68 85-100 2661 99.55 85-100 2473 92.52 100-125 2968 111.04 100-125 2623 98.13 125-150 3357 125.59 125-150 2810 105.13 150-200 3728 139.47 150-200 3030 113.36 200-250 4279 160.08 200-250 3162 118.29 250-3000 4396 164.46 250-3000 3480 130.19
> 300 4666 174.56 > 300 3839 143.62
All 2673 100.00 All 2717 101.65 Standard deviation 1210.13 911.24
Source: NSSO report, 1988
Table 4: Per Consumer Unit intake of Calorie per day by the MPCE class in 1993-94
Rural Urban MPCE in RS Calorie Percentage from all MPCE in RS Calorie Percentage from all
< 120 1827 66.68 < 120 1807 65.61
120-140 2189 79.89 120-140 2249 81.66 140-165 2433 88.80 140-165 2445 88.78 165-190 2563 93.54 165-190 2517 91.39 190-210 2830 103.28 190-210 2674 97.10 210-235 2911 106.24 210-235 2745 99.67 235-265 3068 111.97 235-265 2817 102.29
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265-300 3173 115.80 265-300 2956 107.33 300-355 .. 0.00 300-355 3101 112.60 355-455 3524 128.61 355-455 3301 119.86 455-560 3718 135.69 455-560 3236 117.50
>560 3947 144.05 >560 3623 131.55 ALL 2740 100.00 ALL 2754 100 Standard deviation 651.43 499.72
Source: NSSO report, 1996
Table 4 depicts- in 1993-94 while in rural Odisha the PCU calorie intake of the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure class (MPCE) is only 66 percentage of the calorie intake of an average person of the state, the highest MPCE classes consumes 144 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of state. In urban Odisha while the PCU calorie intake of the bottom MPCE class is 65 percent of the
calorie intake of an average person of Odisha, the highest MPCE class consumes 131 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of the state. The standard deviation depicts that – though the magnitude has reduced, the variation in calorie intake remain high in rural area (651) compared to urban area (500). But there is a significant improvement in overall calories intakes of the people of Odisha.
Table 5: Per Consumer Unit intake of Calorie per day by the Fractile groups in 1999-2000
Rural Urban Fractile groups Calorie Percentage from all Fractile groups Calorie Percentage from all
< 5 1967 74.65 < 5 2100 74.95
5--10 220 8.35 5--10 2452 87.51 20--30 2384 90.47 20--30 2510 89.58
20-30 2627 99.70 20-30 3028 108.07 30-40 2696 102.31 30-40 2762 98.57 40-50 2879 109.26 40-50 2896 103.35 50-60 2898 109.98 50-60 3017 107.67 60-70 3105 117.84 60-70 3014 107.57 70-80 3200 121.44 70-80 3074 109.71 80-90 3374 128.05 80-90 3390 120.99 90-95 3560 135.10 90-95 3412 121.77 95-100 3771 143.11 95-100 4592 163.88
ALL 2635 100 ALL 2802 100
Standard deviation 934.80 623.46 Source: NSSO report, 2001
Table 5 depicts- in 1999-2000 while in rural Odisha the PCU calorie intake of the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure class (MPCE) is 74 percentage of the calorie intake of an average person’s intake of the state, the highest MPCE classes consumes 143 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of the state. In urban Odisha while the PCU calorie intake of the bottom MPCE class is 75 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of Odisha, the upper MPCE classes consumes 163 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of the state. The standard deviation depicts that the variation in calorie intake remain high in rural area (935) compared to urban area (623). But this round too observed an improvement in overall calories intakes of the people of Odisha though there is high variation in calories intake.
Table 6 depicts- in 2004-05 while in rural Odisha the PCU calorie intake of the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure class (MPCE) is 75 percentage of the calorie intake of an average person of state, the highest MPCE class consumes 151 percent of the calorie intake of an average person’s intake of the state. In urban Odisha while the PCU calorie intake of the bottom MPCE class is 75 percent of the calorie intake of an average person of Odisha, the highest MPCE classes consumes 141 percent of the calorie intake of an average person’s intake of the state. The standard deviation depicts marginally higher variation in calorie intake in rural area (540) compared to urban area (505). But this round too observed improvement in overall calories intakes of the people of Odisha.
Table 6: Per Consumer Unit intake of Calorie per day by the Fractile groups in 1999-2000
Rural Urban Fractile groups Calorie Percentage from all Fractile groups Calorie Percentage from all
< 5 1878 74.76 < 5 1944 74.88
5--10 2156 85.83 5--10 2309 88.94 20--30 2393 95.26 20--30 2382 91.76
20-30 2537 101.00 20-30 2484 95.69 30-40 2611 103.94 30-40 2549 98.19 40-50 2748 109.39 40-50 2622 101.00 50-60 2848 113.38 50-60 2788 107.40 60-70 2973 118.35 60-70 2862 110.25
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70-80 3135 124.80 70-80 3259 125.54 80-90 3138 124.92 80-90 3180 122.50 90-95 3438 136.86 90-95 3413 131.47 95-100 3804 151.43 95-100 3659 140.95
ALL 2512 100 ALL 2596 100 Standard deviation 540.33 505.78
Source: NSSO report, 2007
Table 7 depicts- while in rural Odisha bottom 40 percent of the people consume less than the average consumption, in urban Odisha bottom 50 percent of the people consume less than state average. However, it is note that in rural Odisha the calories intake of the bottom five percent of the people are 22
percent point less than average and 47 percent point less than the average calorie intakes of the top five percent of people.
The standard deviation depicts that the variation in calorie intake remain high in rural area (346) compared to urban area (298).
Table 7: Per Consumer Unit intake of Calorie per day by the Fractile class of MPCE in 2011-12
Rural Urban Fractile group Calorie Percentage from all Fractile group Calorie Percentage from all
< 5 2055 78.38 < 5 2274 88.79
5--10 2188 83.45 5--10 2257 88.13 20--30 2354 89.78 20--30 2207 86.18
20-30 2400 91.53 20-30 2243 87.58 30-40 2503 95.46 30-40 2540 99.18 40-50 2646 100.92 40-50 2528 98.71 50-60 2724 103.89 50-60 2655 103.67 60-70 2685 102.40 60-70 2672 104.33 70-80 2767 105.53 70-80 2740 106.99 80-90 2879 109.80 80-90 2719 106.17 90-95 2995 114.23 90-95 2832 110.58 95-100 3281 125.13 95-100 3213 125.46
ALL 2622 100 ALL 2561 100 Standard deviation 346.48 298.12
Source: NSSO report, 2014
From the above data analysis this can be inferred that – there is a significant improvement in calories intake by the people of Odisha. Further, it has been also found that-inequality in calorie consumption has reduced substantially over the period of analysis. This improvement in calories intake may be contributed from different dimensions. This paper considered the changing food and nutritional policies in the state is one of the important factors to explain the above findings.
Section II
Food and Nutritional Policies in Odisha
Public provisioning in the independent India started with the Constitutional commitments by the Government of India to ensure and promote the livelihoods of Indian citizens. Since
then various welfare schemes have been introduced especially to help the poor. The areas covered in those schemes include food and nutrition, education, health, housing and other contingent aspects. These schemes have been working since independence though in different names. The schemes which may promote nutritional security in Odisha are presented in table 8. The table depict that multiple strategies through various schemes have been adopted to improve the nutritional status of the people in the state. Though the implementation and functioning of those schemes are subject to targeting errors, functioning of the concern institutions and so on, yet the role of these public policies cannot be undermine to explain the improvement in calorie intakes of the people of Odisha.
Table 8: Introduction, objectives and functioning of different welfare schemes in rural and urban Odisha
Programs name & year of introduction Objectives Functioning
Food and Nutrition Public Distribution System (PDS), since
1939 but in an organized and large scale since 1950 onwards.
Reforms in the schemes produced Revamped PDS (1992), Targeted PDS (1997) and Antyodaya Arna Yojona (AAY,
2000).
1. Providing universal food security 2. procuring food & maintain a buffer stock 3. Stabilise the food prices.
It has been ensuring the food security to a larger sections of the poor though there have been different
issues need to correct in the system. Such issues includes regional biasness, limited quantity of
cereals, quality of cereals, targeting error etc.
Annapurna Schemes (2000-2001)
Meant for the indigent senior citizens or 65 years of age or above who though eligible for old age pension under the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) but are not getting the pension, are covered and 10kgs of food
grains per person per month are supplied free of cost under the scheme.
The total coverage under the scheme was 6,75,000 including the enhancement of 35,000 made during 2004-05. During 2006-07, Rs.8100.00 lakhs has been provided in the State’s Non-Plan Budget for payment of pension to the above targeted 6,75,000
beneficiaries under the scheme in Orissa
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Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme 15th August, 1995
For the benefit of students in primary schools under Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)/earlier Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) blocks (2368). The Scheme covers students of Class I-V in the
Government Primary Schools / Primary Schools aided by Govt. and the Primary Schools run by local bodies.
The MDM in the state cover almost all the block but while in half of the total block (157) provides cooked meal in other half of the block they distribute
dry food, which may affects the objective of achieving nutritional security.
Integrated Child Development Services, 1974-75
Aims to provide health care services covering supplementary nutrition, immunization, pre-school education, health checkup, referral services and health education to children within the age group of 0-6 years.
In that process the scheme also try to provide nutritional support to the pregnant and nursing mother and health
support to adolescent girls.
In Orissa there is an increasing tendency in the number of beneficiaries from ICDS.
MGNREGA, 2005 Boost purchasing power among the rural poor. Started with 100 days of work to each interested household with Rs.100 per day.
Section III Conclusion
The paper attempted to examine the calorie intakes by the people of Odisha vis-a-vis all India. It found that at the initial level, i.e. during 1972-73 the per capita per day calorie intake by the people of Odisha both in rural and urban area remained far below than that of all India. But over time such figure has changed significantly. By the year 2011-12, the calorie intake by the people of Odisha remained higher than that of all India both in rural and urban area. Such improvements have been related to state’s food and nutritional policies. However there might be other economic variable like increase in agricultural wage may explain such improvement better. However the paper concentrated in one element of protein calorie malnutrition (PCM). The other two elements – protein and fat intakes are also required to find out a clear picture of the PCM in the state.
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